2013

Symposium on the Shrinking Pyramid: Implications for Law Practice and the Legal Profession

A consensus seems to be emerging that lower demand for lawschool graduates will become a permanent feature of the legal market. This is most notably the case in large lawfirms whose business model has been based on a large number of associates at the bottom of a pyramid with a small number of equity partners at the top. Firms of all size, however, are affected by this trend.

Lower demand reflects the impact of forces such as intensified client insistence on cost-effective legal services, the growth of more widespread expertise in mapping and disaggregating legal work, the use of increasingly sophisticated technology and communication systems, the development of new forms of collaboration between clients and outside lawyers, the provision of a larger portion of legal work by in-house counsel in some corporations, and the emergence of networks and supply chains as basic units inthe provision of legal services. This symposium will explore the potential implications of this major shift in how legal work is organized and provided, and how careers in the law are unfolding.

2012

Symposium on the Conscience and Culture of Prosecution

Sponsored by the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession. Presenters included Ofra Bikel, Documentary Filmmaker and Producer, Paul Butler, Professor of Law at George Washington, Angela Davis, Professor of Law at American University, and Bruce Green, Professor of Law at Fordham University. The keynote address was given by Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr.

2011

Symposium on the Status of the Legal Profession: Facing the Challenges of the 21st Century

The symposium was presented by the American Inns of Court and the Georgetown University Law Center with assistance and support from the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple in London. The purpose of the symposium is to discuss timely topics relating to the practice of law and the administration of justice. Presenters included Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Lord Nicholas Phillips, President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice John Murray, Chief Justice of Ireland.

Welcome to the Future: Trends in the Delivery of Corporate Legal Services

This intensive one-day conference was designed to provide concrete insights into how corporate legal departments and outside service providers can collaborate to provide valuable and cost-effective legal services.

The conference featured presentations on

How inside counsel select law firms and how that relationship evolves through distinct stages,

How clients and service providers are attempting to define and measure the value of legal services,

How service teams can draw on members' expertise to provide innovative results for clients and

How clients, law firms, and other providers are attempting to organize work in a coordinated legal services supply chain.

Discussion of each topic included descriptions of specific innovative arrangements in progress or on the drawing board, as well as suggestions about what may be around the corner.

2010

Law Firm Evolution: Brave New World or Business as Usual?

Law firms have been affected to an unprecedented degree by the current economic downturn. Many have made deep cuts in lawyers and staff. Others have reduced salaries and hours, rescinded outstanding offers of employment, frozen hiring, delayed start dates for incoming lawyers, and even paid graduates to forgo the positions they earlier were offered. Many have lost clients as entire sectors of the economy have disappeared or have been radically realigned. Are the dramatic steps that firms have taken temporary adjustments to market conditions, which will have limited long-term effect after economic recovery? Or do they reflect fundamental changes in the business model of law firms that are likely to transform the market for legal services and the legal profession in general? This symposium brought together scholars, practitioners, and legal professionals from around the world to discuss the future of the market for legal services, and the implications of change for the organization of law practice, legal career paths, law schools, and lawyers' sense of professional identify.

2009

Symposium on Empirical Research on the Legal Profession: Insights from Theory and Practice

This symposium brought together scholars, practicing lawyers, print and electronic journalists, consultants and communications experts, from the US and overseas, to discuss how empirical research on lawyers and law practice can inform our understanding of issues facing the profession. Papers focused on issues of diversity lawyer mobility, globalization and its relationship to law firms, how lawyers can use empirical research on the profession, and the coordination of legal and media strategies in representing clients.

The Future Is Here: Globalization and the Regulation of the Legal Profession

Jointly sponsored by The American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility and Standing Committee on Professional Discipline, and The Center for the Study of the Legal Profession of Georgetown University Law Center.

2008

Symposium on Corporate Responsibility: Law, Operations, and Strategy

The claim that business should incorporate a sense of social responsibility into the decision-making process must take account of the legal environment that companies must navigate, the operational demands that they face, and their ability to devise socially responsible strategies that further competitiveness and financial viability. This symposium featured the latest thinking on these three dimensions of corporate social responsibility.

Symposium on the Future of the Global Law Firm

This symposium brought together scholars from a range of disciplines, legal practitioners, regulators, and consultants and experts on professional service firms to discuss a variety of forces that are likely to shape the global market for law firm services in the years to come. Participants from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia explored issues such as the financial, organizational, and cultural dynamics of law firms; management strategies and business models in the global legal services market; law firm access to various sources of capital; and the impact of market forces on professional ethics, values, and identity. Analysis of these issues was informed in particular by discussion of legislation in the United Kingdom authorizing nonlawyer equity investment in law firms, and of the emergence of the publicly traded law firm in Australia. Scholars and practitioners engaged in a wide-ranging dialogue that illuminated the challenges that lie ahead for law firms that aim to operate and compete on the global stage.